micromagic

systems

Hexapod V2.0 (Developed 2001)

Basic Specification
With similar specs to the V1 Hexapod, the main difference between the two is the leg design and new control electronics. V2 has increased leg movement, more powerfull servos (Hi-Tec HS-85BB) and simpler "Rx12-50" servo drivers. The new drivers are 12 chanel, 8bit resolution and can run servos in normal or extended range via an RS232 link. V2 is also radio linked.

Servo Control
The hexapod pictured has two Rx12-50 Servo boards to drive the servos. The Rx12-50's are driven via a serial link to a host PC which is doing all the calculations for leg placement.

Locomotion Engine
The PC which is currently used for the locomotion engine is a P200 MMX, nothing fancy, in fact the software will run on a 486DX class processor. The kits will be made for use with a host PC via tethered serial link, With upgrade options for radio link and an on-board locomotion engine for autonomous control !!

Power
The power source is down to the user.. We have used 4.8V 1700mah NiCd packs and 4.8V 3000mah NmHd Cs cell sanyo packs. Recently we have been using The A and 4/3 A Cell packs. These also work well and have ratings from 1700mah through to 4000mah depending on the type. With a 1700mah pack the average runing time is 50mins continuous walking. The HS85BB servos tend to get a bit jittery when run at higher voltages such as 6Volt Packs.

Sensors
None. Our goal is to provide the walking platform only. It will be upto the end user to add their own sensors. However, the robot under test is fitted with a Pan and Tilt head with a small B&W CCD camera. This part was just for fun, but the plan is to have a head attachment for carrying sensors or cameras.